Grants to states to support oral health workforce activities - the colorado department of public health and environment's oral health unit (OHU) continuously strives to address oral health care…

Grants to states to support oral health workforce activities - the colorado department of public health and environment's oral health unit (OHU) continuously strives to address oral health care workforce needs and to improve oral health equity throughout colorado's underserved communities. Ongoing efforts to prioritize oral health promotion, disease prevention, and access to care needs for coloradans residing in the state's designated dental health professional shortage areas (dental hpsas) have resulted in a trend of declining oral health disparities in colorado. Unfortunately, existing oral health inequities in colorado's underserved communities remain, especially in communities of color. Historical inequities have been compounded as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, with expected increases of disease burdens across all demographics. The OHU will implement quality improvement efforts to address continued gaps in access to oral health care in dental hpsas, with a focus on the following priority populations: low-income populations, hispanic/latinx populations, children, and older adults. Clinical priorities addressed by the project include telehealth, behavioral health, opioids/substance use disorder, rural health, health equity, and covid-19. The colorado oral health workforce project will focus on the following goals and objectives to improve oral health outcomes and address current and future workforce needs: goal 1: increase innovations in colorado that will expand access to culturally appropriate and minimally invasive oral health services in dental hpsas. Specifically, by august 31, 2026, increase the number of newly developed or enhance existing in-person and distance-based curricula to support the implementation of innovative oral health programs and strategies from 0 to 5; and by august 31, 2026, increase the number of community-based oral health service sites implementing innovative programs and strategies from 0 to 10 in dental hpsas. Goal 2: encourage and support the strategic use of evalua tion to improve program performance, assess program impact on communities with the highest needs, and address the concerns and needs of key colorado stakeholders and decision-makers. Specifically, by august 31, 2023, increase the number of comprehensive hrsa oral health workforce evaluation and performance measurement plan components from 0 to 3 (innovative program #1 teleoralhealth [TOH], #2 behavioral and oral health integration [bohi], and #3 colorado health service corps [chsc] futures program performance measurement); and by august 31, 2026, increase the number of colorado's hrsa oral health evaluation and performance measurement plan components that are fully implemented, reported, and disseminated from 0 to 3 (innovative program #1 TOH, #2 bohi, and #3 chsc futures program performance measurement). Goal 3: develop strategies to sustain programs that increase the accessibility and quality of oral health services within dental hpsas, including strategies to expand innovative programs to new dental hpsas and programs adopted by new partners. Specifically, by august 31, 2026, increase the number of strategies identified to sustain each of the innovative programs and innovative strategies from 0 to 4. The innovative programs and strategies proposed within the colorado oral health workforce project will be implemented to improve the quality and quantity of oral health services in targeted dental hpsas through a large network of local and statewide partnerships. By aligning resources and efforts across the state, and ensuring continuous quality improvement efforts across its programs, the colorado oral health workforce project will significantly decrease oral health disparities in colorado and improve the oral health status of all coloradans.